Best herbal galactagogue for the week after childbirth

While looking at records of herbalism around the world, I kept bumping into this information: Stinging Nettle tea after birth.

Nettle (Urtica dioica) contains iron to help a mother build new red blood cells, reducing the risk of anemia, helping a mother avoid fatigue and depression.

Nettle contains vitamin K to help reduce bleeding.

It supports a mother’s kidneys and reduces the swelling of edema, so important for many mothers.

Nettle is known in herbalism as a blood-cleanser: its soluble fibers enter the bloodstream and attach to toxins, catching and binding them so they can be led out of the body through urine and stool.

Nettle does not lead to over-supply or create problems with engorgement. Its support of the kidneys can reduce edema and reduce the hardness of the breasts that comes with initial engorgement, especially in first-time moms.

The other “must have” is green cabbage. The leaves, pressed onto the breasts and left for a half-hour, also pull out extra fluids.

I’ve seen mothers with swollen breasts, ankles, calves, hands and arms, whose milk simply would not flow, pee off the edema and begin to have easy milk flow and a contentedly feeding baby within hours of drinking nettle tea.